decision

Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) v. INEA and Karpowership Brasil Energia Ltda. - decision

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

Filing Year For Action

On March 25, 2022, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (Minstério Público Federal - MPF) filed a Public Civil Action (environmental class action) against the Rio de Janeiro’s State Environmental Agency (Instituto Estadual do Meio Ambiente – INEA), and the company Karpowership Brasil Energia Ltda. due to alleged irregularities in the environmental licensing process of 36 temporary towers for power transmission lines in Sepetiba Bay, Rio de Janeiro. The plaintiff informs that INEA, when granting the Integrated environmental license disregarded the synergistic and cumulative impacts with the request for a license to install and operate four floating Thermoelectric Plants in the same region, which are part of the same project. It argues that both the temporary towers for power transmission lines and the floating Thermoelectric Plants should be analyzed together and that there was an absence of an Environmental Impact Study/Environmental Impact Report (EIA/RIMA) and of a public hearing with the participation of the local community. The MPF points out that thermoelectric enterprises are generators of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) pollution. For this reason, INEA should require prior studies to assess the contribution of the project to climate change, taking into account the objectives of the National Policy on Climate Change - PNMC (Federal Law 12.189/2009) and the goals assumed by Brazil in the Paris Agreement.It raises the special protection of the Atlantic Forest biome (under Federal Law 11.428/2006) when it comes to suppression of vegetation. The MPF bases its claim on the duty of the Public Authorities to defend and preserve the ecologically balanced environment provided for in article 225 of the Federal Constitution. 

Among other measures, the plaintiff requests the preliminary suspension of the license and, definitively, the: (i) declaration of its nullity; (ii) evaluation of the project considering its contribution to climate change, so as to ensure that emissions are mitigated; (iii) determination that INEA abstain from granting licenses without conducting an EIA; (iv) determination that INEA considers, after the presentation of the EIA/RIMA, the global analysis of the licensing, considering the cumulative and synergistic effects of the projects; (v) determination that the defendants to recover the already deforested areas and the existing environmental liabilities; and (vi) determination that the defendants compensate for the damages caused, considering their material and extra-patrimonial nature, including collective moral damages.

On September 25, 2022, the judge dismissed the case without resolution of the merits, on procedural grounds. It emphasized that the case should be dismissed on the grounds of (i) lack of standing to sue on the part of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF); (ii) absolute lack of jurisdiction of the court; and (iii) lack of interest in suing on the grounds of inadequacy of the chosen legal avenue.

Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) v. INEA and Karpowership Brasil Energia Ltda.

The Climate Litigation Database

Find climate change litigation data and indicators for {text}.

{text} litigation

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law provides Climate Litigation Database, a comprehensive database of US and Global climate change caselaw

Quickly and easily search through the complete text of thousands of climate change law and policy documents from every country.

Search the Climate Litigation Database

An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) v. INEA and Karpowership Brasil Energia Ltda. - decision

Policy instrument

Risk

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance